There are a lot of viruses in the Arctic ice – and they can show us where carbon is sinking.
Science News has a novel way to map out potential climate change – by tracking where new viruses are showing up in the ocean: Water […]
microbiology
Harvesting the hot-water bacteria that “eat and breathe” electricity.
Science Daily shouts about a Washington State University team that headed out to the geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone to cultivate a relationship with […]
SONG: Quantum Biology
SONG: “Quantum Biology” [Download] . ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Scientific American, Vol. 27, Dec. 2018, “’Schrödinger’s Bacterium’ Could Be a Quantum Biology Milestone”, as used in […]
A living tattoo that’s also a computer.
Science Daily reveals how MIT researchers used 3D printing to create the world’s first temporary tattoo made from living cells that act as sensors or […]
Science Art: Plate C from The rotifera; or, Wheel-animalcules, both British and foreign, 1889
Click to embiggen Teeny tiny critters, hanging out in the water. They’ve got cilia in a circle, waving around their tops as if they were […]
SONG: I Had A Fever
SONG: “I Had A Fever” [Download] . ARTIST: grant. SOURCE:Can Microbes Encourage Altruism?,” Scientific American, 17 Jul 2017, as used in the post “Does kindness […]
Does kindness come from germs? Are the better angels of our nature really a contagious infection?
Scientific American takes a cold, calculating look at research into the origins of our behavior. Just like parasites can spur suicidal behavior in certain hosts […]
Bad gut bacteria can cause high blood pressure.
Sure, it might be the salty food, but Science Daily says, based on work by the American Physiological Society, that the microbes in your intestines […]
These germs join carbon to silicon.
Nature reports on a critter in Iceland’s hot springs that binds silicon to carbon – which could lead to all sorts of weird breakthroughs: Researchers […]
Science Art: “Various Forms of Trachelomonas” (detail of “INFUSORIA”), 1883
Aren’t they the cutest little things? These are kinds of Euglena, the weird little microscopic critters that are animals with plant-like characteristics – some of […]
Virus pirates black widow venom, uses it as weapon
New Scientist reports on some information-age piracy taking place in the microscopic realm, where viruses seem to have hijacked spider venom to attack bacteria: Viruses […]
Fracking reveals new genus of bacteria.
Science Daily reports on the hitherto-unknown genus of germs dubbed “Frackibacter,” after its disrupted shale-oil habitat: The new genus is one of the 31 microbial […]
Bacteria movement could power tiny machines.
Wired is thinking big about something much, much smaller than a hamster in a wheel – powering microscopic machines with “bacterial windfarms”: The natural movement […]
Microbes that feed on electricity
Quanta Magazine introduces us to little creatures that use electricity as food: The electricity-eating microbes that the researchers were hunting for belong to a larger […]
We might have gotten MRSA on the run.
Good news from New Scientist – the so-called superbug has met its germ-killing kryptonite: These bacteria are resistant to the most widely used class of […]